Uganda conference how to establish reconciliation ministry

1. HOW TO ESTABLISH
A RECONCILIATION
MINISTRY
UGANDA

2. • Content:
• Enable participants to discuss the effects of ethnic bitterness, hatred and violence in their
contexts.
• Facilitate biblical reflection around the concepts of forgiveness and reconciliation.
• Discuss the role of the church in a) sometimes perpetuating ethnic violence b) bring healing
and reconciliation.
• Explore the barriers which exist to churches bringing healing and reconciliation e.g. church
leaders and members first need to experience healing and development and develop new
perspectives and attitudes.
• Share about Le Rucher’s work and their healing and reconciliation workshops.
• Inform participants where they can find out more about the workshops or undergo training
to deliver them / book someone to deliver them.
• Aims and Desired Outcomes
• Participants understand the enormity of the effects of ethnic bitterness and hatred.
• Participants understand the call of the church to bring healing and reconciliation, but that
first the church needs to be healed itself.
• Participants have an understand of the work of Le Rucher ministries and their healing and

3. CALLING:THECHURCHATLARGE(Mat5:9,IICor5:18-19,Col
1:19-20)BUTMAYBEYOUINPARTICULAR?
• Dr Rhiannon: Her personal life experience
• Maliaseme: Dream but clarify later
• Theo (Burden): by birth, identity crisis
• Myself: family history, in the blood, Divine coincidence?
• Carsa: See the problem and reasoning
• AGIR: Heard about the the message and saw that it was
now timely

4. What aspect do you want to
address
• Sin has affected all human relationship: With God, self,
others, creation
• Do you want to focus on self? Inner healing, or trauma healing
• Family
• Church
• Interpersonal: Mediation
• Socio-Political
• Racial
• TRY TO DEVELOP IN ONE AREA AND OTHER AREAS BECOME
SECONDARY

5. EQUIP YOURSELF
• DON’T NEED TO WAIT UNTIL WE HAVE KNOWLEDGE (UNLESS
THE CONFLICT IS NOT IN OUR CONTEXT)
• YOU NEED TO GO THROUGH YOUR PERSONAL HEALING AND
RECONCILIATION OR AS A TEAM, YOU CAN”T TAKE PEOPLE
WHERE YOU HAVE NEVER BEEN!
• WHAT ARE THE RESOURCES AROUND (CARSA): Books, other
organizations, training, documentaries; Go to practitioners;
• CONNECT WITH THOSE WHO ARE ALREADY DOING
SOMETHING ABOUT CONFLICT

6. UNDERSTAND THE DYNAMICS OF
YOUR CONFLICT (MAPPING)
• INVESTIGATE MAPPING (Rhiannon heard, and read)
• PRAYER (In some places you have to deal with spiritual
forces: Ephesians 6:12-15)
• UNDERSTAND THE ROOT CAUSES: resource based?
Worldview? From within or outside?
• LEARN THE DYNAMICS: Who against whom? When?
How? Cycle? Can you predict? What are the signs?
• ASK THE WAZEE AND EXPERTS, BUT ALSO THE YOUTH
AND WOMEN;

7. TEAM-ORGANISATIONS
• Raising a team of like minded around you has always been a
challenge (Pure motives)
• The teams should include those from both side of the conflict
(When it was P. Anastase and Rhiannon?)
• If possible include women, younger and older folks
• Develop trust, overcome prejudices, be genuine, this must be
continuous (About us);
• If you choose an existing organization, mind their vision,
mission, objectives, values and reputation,..(2 examples)
• Some have decided to reproduce, or market to a
denomination, NGOs are not well seen!

8. DEVELOP TOOLS ON THE WAY:
HOW HWEC WAS DEVELOPED
• Pieces of papers on different topics
• Include ideas and responses
• Work on the flow of topics
• More contextualization of content
• Develop simple methodology (TOF According to groups)
• Allow repackaging
• Help people go through experience and raise teams of
volunteers
• Release the ministry and leave

14. MOBILISATION: CASE STUDIES
• CASE STUDY 1
• You want to see the reconciliation ministry multiplied in your own nation so when you are invited by Mr. H. to run a HWEC in a new area
of the country, you are delighted. You explain to Mr. H. what you need to have in order to run a HWEC. This includes:
• 1. Various church leaders to be invited
• 2. Participants to be Christians from different ethnic groups.
• 3. People to attend who might be capable of multiplying the ministry into that area and a group or church who is willing to pursue doing
this.
• Mr. H. assures you this will be done and you go to this new area, excited by the possibility of finally seeing reconciliation multiplied into
that area of your country. However, what you find is quite different from what you expected. Although, they were invited, the different
churches did not attend the workshop. Everyone was from one church and one ethnic group. You eventually discovered that some
local churches did not know about the workshop at all. Apparently, Mr. H. is not in good standing with the churches in the community
and even those who heard about the workshop, were not interested because it was him inviting them. It was extremely disappointing to
realize Mr. H. thought that one workshop would “fix” all the problems in the area and really did not intend to do anything further in the
community. There was no church or group involved that had any intention of continuing on with the work. You were aware, however,
of 1 or 2 people who had might have a vision for further reconciliation, but they had no authority in the church or any other group, no
resources and other jobs that kept them busy full-time.
• 3. How would you t
•
CASE STUDY #2
• You have trained a team to do the ministry of reconciliation in another area of your country and have raised the money to support their
work. They are responsible to you and are expected to run the Healing the Wounds of Ethnic Conflict workshop for Christian leaders, as
well as train new facilitators in order to expand the work.
• However, the team leaders keep quitting or have to be dismissed due to sin in their own lives (sexual immorality or financial dishonesty).
Finally, you get a team you believe will be able to function very well. The people on the team have been supportive of the work for a long
time and really feel called to the ministry of reconciliation. They are from different ethnic groups and different genders and all of them
are seasoned Christian workers. There may be an issue that the leader is from the dominant ethnic group, but she is humble and very
loving toward the other groups so you think it will work.
• This new team starts out well, but gradually you realize their reports are showing less and less results. Fewer people are coming to the
reconciliation workshops, and rarely is there anyone from the dominant ethnic group in a workshop (other than the team leader). The
people they are training as future facilitators are unable to produce anything, less than 1 out of 40 trained can even assist in a HWEC, and
none of them can run one on their own. When you go to investigate what has happened, you discover there is disunity amongst the
team; the team leader feels threatened by another team member who is more capable so she does not allow that team member any
responsibility; there is great mistrust between the team members of different ethnic groups and capable volunteers from other ethnic
groups are no longer being invited to work with the team.

15. Cases when you move
• CASE STUDY #3
• You were invited by a church denomination from another country to help them begin a Healing and Reconciliation
ministry. You travel to that country, run a HWEC workshop for some un-ordained members of that denomination,
and it is fantastic, seeing the Lord change so many lives. You return and train them to run HWEC workshops
themselves. A team is formed and commissioned by the denomination to work in the local communities. They
see thousands come to new levels of healing within their communities. Many of the people served do not attend
the denomination’s churches, but go to others. Other organizations get interested in helping them do the work.
• About that time, some leaders of the denomination begin to oppose the work. They manipulate things so that the
funds are diverted or held back until it is too late. Money goes completely missing and the team begins to distrust
the denomination. Some of the full-time team members are diverted to other jobs so they no longer have time to
be involved in the reconciliation ministry. The local volunteers get frustrated and discouraged. They just want to
see their people healed and reconciled and do not want to be involved in “church politics.” But without a leader
and funding, things gradually stop.
• CASE STUDY #4
• You have helped a team start to run Healing the Wounds of Ethnic Conflict workshops in another area of your
country. At first, you are hearing great reports of what the Lord is doing in that area. But then you start to hear
some other things. Someone decided to start their own ministry and make money from the NGO community in
the name of reconciliation. They formed their own organization, raised money from international NGOs and told
everyone else this was “their territory” and the others should stop running anything to do with the HWEC material
because it “belongs” to them. Of course, they were not training any others to do the ministry of reconciliation.
When you go to investigate and see if you can at least help them by training their own staff better, you are told you
are not welcome and you should never come back.

16. WHAT WE LEARNT ABOUT
SUSTAINABILITY/SELF CARE
• SIMPLE FORMAT
• WISE USE OF FINANCES
• FU-TOF-TOF
• REPACKAGING: SONGS, MOVIES, ARTISTIC DISPLAY, SPORT,..
• WORK WITHIN EXISTING STRUCTURE
• THE TEAM MEMBERS NEED DEBRIEFING AND
CONTINUOUS CAPACITY BUILDING
• Retreats and Renewal opportunities
• Help family and church to be a supportive community
• Formal debriefing

17. • 2007- MMI GL office
• Twahise dushyira imbaraga muri SA, Congo, Burundi, na
Kenya

18. Createstrategicpartnerships:
ITURI-SOUTHSUDAN:MAF-COMPANIES-
CHURCHES-GOVERNMENT(NURC)

19. Ivory Coast released new
facilitators

20. EVEN IN CONTEXT WHERE THEY WORK INTER-FAITH, GIVE
TOP PRIORITYTO THE CHURCH: SRI –LANKA
REMEMBERABRAHAM: MOSLEM-CHRISTIAN?

21. National School
Some of the
products: National
School is an
infrastructure of
peace

22. International School

23. Alternative ways : Rally
against a NEW ENEMY
(COMMON) • Taking the message
of peace through
community work

25. Construction of kitchen garden
peace interactions and
dialogue

26. REFLECTION
• Describe the conflict you want to address and the parties
involved
• What can you do and how (tools, methodology)
• What are the obstacles you may encounter and how do you
plan to overcome
• How do you want to engage the church

27. MAY GOD BLESS YOU